Committee Shies Away From Modifying Project

April 30, 2003|By JOSH KOVNER; Courant Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN — Officials on Tuesday quickly scuttled an idea to ask voters at a June referendum to approve an extra $900,000 for an artificial turf athletic field in addition to the $79.9 million high school project.

The high school building committee, gun-shy after the proposed high school was rejected by voters last June, said it did not want to risk the entire project by asking wary taxpayers to consider a second referendum question on a multi-purpose, all-weather field at the Wilderman's Way site.

If the common council on Monday votes to schedule a June 10 referendum, voters would be asked to pass a $31.6 million bond issue. That's about one-third of the cost of the school project (the rest is paid for by the state), plus a 10 percent contingency.

The building panel, which wants to hold the total cost to $79.9 million or less, voted to include a lighted artificial field, good for football, soccer, field hockey and lacrosse, in the bid specifications for the high school project.

If a contractor can build the project for under $79.9 million with an artificial field, then the building panel would support it. But if the all-weather surface and lights -- a $1.025 million package -- bust the budget, the project would revert to a grass field.

Sally Boske, a building panel member and chairwoman of the board of education, made it clear that school board members and many parents were against exceeding the $79.9 million pricetag, particularly for an athletic field.

``If the taxpayers were going to give us another $900,000, I could think of other uses,'' said Boske, adding that the ``music department would have loved a larger auditorium.''